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Iran approves six for presidential race

Iran's legislative watchdog has cleared six out of 1014 hopefuls to stand for president on 17 June, including poll frontrunner Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and four other conservative loyalists.

22 May 2005 20:48 GMT

Rafsanjani is favourite to win the presidential polls

The Guardian Council's statement on Sunday, issued through state media, contained no big surprises and gave the green light to the powerful ex-president Rafsanjani, 70, former chief of police Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, 43, and former head of state broadcasting Ali Larijani, 48.It also cleared the former commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezaie, and Tehran's mayor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

All of these hail from factions of the conservative camp.

The only reformist cleared was former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi, a mid-ranking cleric.

The only other reformist to make an impression in opinion polls, former higher education minister Mostafa Moin, was banned from running.

Reformist crackdown

"The disqualification of Moin is an illegal and ugly move," Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, Karroubi's campaign chief was quoted as saying by the left-wing labour news agency.

Moin had stood up for the rights of students, often the spearhead of the reformist movement who have borne the brunt of crackdowns by the police and religious paramilitaries.